A Tale from Those Below
by Uniasus
Summary: Just a little ficlet really. Mario as seen from a third person view.


**A Tale of Those Below**

_By Uniasus_

Lenore opened the house door as quietly as possible, doing nothing to stifle the yawn that escaped her lips

Lenore opened the house door as quietly as possible, doing nothing to stifle the yawn that escaped her lips. She did not work the swing shift very often, about once a month, though it always took a toll on her. It was easier to do when she was younger, but at just over the hill at 41 it was evident she was getting older.

A look at her reflection in the window over the kitchen sink conformed that fact. Her yellowish skin was starting to wrinkle around her eyes and mouth due to laughing at her husband Doug's antics when they were younger and smiling luminous grins at their daughter Kira. Her neck was also showing a sprinkling of lines, particularly where it protruded from her shell. Lenore did not mind too much however; laugh lines were a sign of a good life.

She tiptoed into the bedroom and gently snuggled in underneath the blankets careful not to disturb Doug. He would be getting up in a couple hours to finish a contract at a house and could use the rest. Sighing, she scooted closer to him and laid a hand on his shell. Lenore fell asleep running her hand over its rough texture.

She awoke to a hand slightly shaking her shoulder and whispered "Mom?"s. Lenore rolled over and slowly opened her eyes and tilted her head to see the alarm clock on the night stand. Ten. Ideally she had wanted to sleep for another hour, but returned her gaze to her disturber. She extended an arm from her shell and wiped at her eyes.

In front of her was her dear sweet child Kira. The girl had been so good to be quite that morning to not disturb her mother's sleep. However she knew her mother preferred to know where she was when she left the house and the girl had just received a play invitation. Kira held her hands linked together in front of her shell once she had succeeded in getting her mother's attention.

"What is it sweetheart?" Lenore's voice was still saturated with sleep, but she was slowly waking up.

"I'm going out to play with Peter in the park." Kira's voice was low since her mother was still sleepy. "Is that okay?"

Lenore smiled. "Yes, yes. That's fine. Thanks for telling me."

Kira grinned and kissed her mother's cheek. "Thanks Mom." She left the room to put on her shoes and leave.

"Be careful and have fun hun!" the adult said as her daughter left the room. Lenore sighed. She might as well get up for the day. Rolling her shoulders back, she lifted herself off of the bed and made her way to the shower.

After toweling herself dry, Lenore put on her bathrobe and entered the kitchen. Filling up a kettle of water for tea, for she was never a coffee person, she glanced out the window. It was looked like it would be a marvelous day. The sun was out and smiling, the flowers were starting to bloom, and the temperature was just chilly enough to warrant a light jacket. Turning off the faucet, she placed the kettle on the stovetop and returned to her bedroom to change into some clothes.

She was sitting the kitchen table reading the day's newspaper when she was interrupted by rapid knocking on her door. Opening it, Lenore was greeted with the sight of a very anxious Debbie Malone, her neighbor.

Debbie was much shorter than Lenore and younger by a few years. Her skin was that of milk chocolate bar and her head was rather large considering the size of the rest of her. Normally a beautiful woman, her face now contained lines of worry and her eyes were wide with a sort of panic.

"Come in, come it," Lenore opened the door wider to invite the woman in, but Debbie just shook her head.

"Something happened at the park Lenore, Peter and Kira…I don't know what happened or whether or not my baby is safe! Please come with me!" She grasped Lenore's forearm in her short hands in a silent plead.

Lenore had started reaching for her coat when Debbie mentioned the park. "Just let me get my coat."

Grabbling the light jacket she did not bother to take the time to zip it up before striding outside and locking the door. She turned to her short neighbor. "Come on," she said, a strain in her voice a mixture of urgency and worry.

The park was not to far away, maybe five blocks. Usually it was pleasant walk to it from their homes, a common route for the family during a summer evening; but now each block seemed double the length. Lenore could have gotten there faster, but Debbie was not gifted with legs as long as hers and already was taking more strides than her. She could not restrain herself any longer however when the park came into view, where a cop car and an ambulance were parked. Lenore sprinted to the playscape and frantically looked back and forth for her daughter. She found her sitting at a picnic table with cop.

"Kira!" the worried mother rushed over to the young girl and scooped her into a tight hug. "Are you alright? You're not hurt? What happened? Where's Peter?" Lenore sat herself down on the bench next to the forgotten cop.

"Peter…he's…" Kira burst into tears and buried her face in her mother's shoulders. "He…hic…won't wake…hic…up!" she cried through sobs that had taken over her entire frame.

"PETER!!" Lenore closed her eyes in pain at the sound of Debbie's voice and the wailing that followed. She tightened her hug around her own child grateful that Kira was alive and feeling slightly guilty that she had a child and Debbie did not.

"Ahem," the cop stood up and cleared his throat.

"What happened Officer?" Lenore's voice was strained, tense, still aching from the other mother's cry.

"Your daughter tells me some jumped on her from above. She immediately retracted into her shell and then was kicked across the street. The young boy was attacked next but….well, the perpetrator landed a direct hit on the soft spot on his heat. Thankfully it was quick and sudden for the boy, no lasting pain." He trailed off sorrowfully and then continued. "The ice cream shop owner called it in," He pointed with his thumb over his shoulder across the street.

He continued, shaking his head. "I can't believe someone would do this to kids, but this isn't the only call we've had today about someone going around, jumping on people and destroying buildings. I need-"

They were interrupted by a beeping noise and Lenore reached into her pocket to retrieve her beeper. It was the hospital, asking her to come in. Apparently there were so many people who had injured by this vile person that they needed more staff to help take care of them.

She placed the beeper back in her pocket. She would go eventually, after she took care of Kira and Debbie who took priority at the moment. Looking up, a nod told the officer to go ahead.

"I just need to ask you daughter one more question."

"Sweetheart?" Lenore pulled Kira off her shoulder and looked into her face. Wiping tears off cheeks with gentle fingers she asked "Can you answer one more question?" Kira nodded and Lenore turned her around to face the cop.

He dropped down to a knee to be on level with her. "Can you tell me what he looked liked?"

Kira nodded and hiccupped a few times before answering. "I'd never seen a creature like him before, but he kinda looked like a human from a story. He wore red pants…a…blue shirt…and had brown hair." She put a hand to her head in a classic pondering pose the other lying in the crook of her elbow, trying to come up with something else.

"He had a really funny way of speaking, and said something that sounded like 'It's a Mario'".

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Hehe, what did you think? First Mario fic and it was inspired by a comic I saw online. I'ld give out the link, but I lost it T.T

I want to thank my betas for this fic, SocercerTech and my sister. Thanks for putting up with my writing! Well, I did kinda force it on my sis...

Please leave a review, and if you don't thats fine too. It nice to know you just got as far as the author notes

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